Baby Fox Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo -- A Week of Scavenging Roadkill for Educational Purposes

The last time I can remember that I saw a fox roadkill was in the middle of a two-day, cross-country drive.  It was a cold morning in the early spring -- a perfect time to pick up a fresh roadkill.  
There was one problem.  We were on our way to stay with some friends for about a week. 

     Deana:  "Jeff, there is a roadkill fox!  I've always wanted a fox.  We've got to stop and get it!"
     Jeff:  "What are you going to do with it?"
     Deana:  "Put it in the car and skin it when we're back home."
     Jeff:  "But where are you going to put it for the next week?"
     Deana: "I guess it would be a little gross to put it in their freezer.  Could we wrap it up well and pack it in snow in their backyard?"
     End of discussion. We didn't get that fox.

Four years later . . . . 

I found another road kill fox, and it was a cute little baby fox.  
And we were on the way to church.
My amazing husband stopped the car, turned around and drove back to where it was lying on the center yellow stripes in the middle of the road.
As I was picking it up (in my church dress, nylons, and dress shoes), one of our ministers and his wife drove by and gave me a funny look.  After church he very politely asked Jeff what I was doing in the middle of the road with a dead animal on the way to church.  

My science teacher son and I are going to skin it like we did the coyote road kill we found a few years ago.  Never mind that.  Jeff just read this post and says he wants it mounted. 

P.S. This is LEGAL because I am an educator and I have official permission from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.  Here's my permit to prove it.  It's called a salvage permit.  But when I called them, I asked for a scavenger permit. Hee hee. I made sure I had a permit as several years ago some lady reported me to the FBI because one of my students brought in a dead hawk which had flown into a window and broken its neck.  But that's another story.  

Turkey Day Science

     In our elementary science class last semester we were studying bones, muscles and tendons.  How do you explain a tendon?  Well, as I carved up my Thanksgiving turkey, I found one, still attached to the bone.  I stuck it in the freezer and retrieved it when classes began again.  

     We passed around the thawed bone with the large, strong tendon attached.  The young men wanted to prove their prowess and actually pulled the tendon off of the turkey bone, but we all got the idea.  More learning accomplished.  Greasy hands washed.  Learning can be fun.

Make Like a Tree and Leave

     The other day I went out to check on my sheep and gather chicken eggs when I could not help but notice beautiful autumn leaves drifting down from above my head.  I instinctly began picking them up, like I do seashells at the ocean shore.  Red ones, yellow ones, half green and half brown ones.  Oak leaves, pecan leaves, what are these funny ones?  My pockets were full.

      I went inside and placed them in my huge white teacher’s bag.  It is full of all kinds of stuff-- usually papers to grade, zillions of pens, Advil, anti-itch cream, Frosty coupons, a sharpie, my camera, my clipboard, my choir music because I can’t learn the last page of that hard song, food, my coffee cup, and now, leaves. 

      The next day I gave every student one of each kind of leaf I had gathered.  We examined them, drew pictures of them on the board, taped them to paper, and wrote their names next to them.  I grew up in Texas, but I never knew the difference between the leaves of a red oak and a white oak until yesterday.  We discovered that two of the unknown leaves were aspen and sweet gum.  

      The following day the students showed up with baggies of leaves-- one of each kind for each one of their classmates.  We added magnolia leaves, holly leaves, cedar “leaves”, and maple leaves to our collection.  Then we put them in between waxed paper and ironed them on top of an old t-shirt.

      My husband walked in the room to get a book and asked me, “What are you doing?”   I told him we were ironing leaves.  I felt a little silly, but anatomy can wait for another day or so.  We are having a wonderful time examining different kinds of leaves.  

Gross Skeleton--Yummy Grasshopper

  

      A student brought in this headless snake skeleton for our morning “science time”.  All that remained were bones and a little skin.  When we were picking it up to take a picture of it, he noticed something stuck between its ribs.  A closer look revealed the legs of a grasshopper--presumably the snake’s last meal.

Found: Native American Texas Artifact

                                      

      My great-grandmother was a Cherokee, so I love learning about the Native Americans--especially those who lived in this area before we were here.   Another wonderful perk of living in our lovely little metroplex of Rosebud-Lott is finding Native American artifacts.  We are currently studying American history, and as it is still early in the year we are studying the sad story of how the European settlers displaced these indigenous peoples.   I hope we have learned from our past mistakes.  

      The family of one of our students was digging the foundation of a house when they found this fine example of a scraper (top right).  The youngster proudly displayed it at school.  I told him to get a shovel and to go and dig up some more in that area.  About one hundred and sixty years ago bands of Apache Indians roamed these parts, and there are still a few proofs left of it.  I have yet to find an arrowhead myself, but the two smaller scrapers I found in the Marble Falls, Texas area.  The arrowhead in the picture was found locally by one of the church brothers while he was plowing.  The use of the rock with the hole in it is yet to be determined, but we have found several around here.  I was guessing weights for fishing nets?   If you have any insight please let us know. 

Pumpernickel Bread and My Graduation Trunk

        As part of our social studies class we are reading Hidden Riches, a true story about a Mennonite family from the Palatinate (modern-day Germany) which packed up a big trunk and braved the Atlantic Ocean to settle in Pennsylvania in the mid- 1700s to escape persecution.  As the story goes on, I’ve been bringing in items to go along with it.

One of the first was the trunk.  This was my college graduation present from my mother, and I treasure it.  I put pots, pans, seeds, and a tool in it just like the people in the book did when they packed their trunk for their move to the New World.  The students dug into the trunk and found all the goodies.  Then in the story they ate brown bread, so we all sampled pumpernickel bread as part of class the next day.   

Today we read about how the new community built the family a log cabin with a fireplace in the middle and beds in the loft.  I was trying to figure out how to turn our classroom into a log cabin, buy I think I’ll save that for another year.  

Eating Science

I try to do as many of the experiments from our science books as I can.  The one for the “solid-liquid-gas” lesson was to pour heavy cream into a large jar, shake it for ten minutes, and make butter.  We read the steps and looked at the picture, but that wasn’t enough.  We needed to do it to get the real effect.  

I have a large bin I keep in the room. (Yes, in the room.  I know, it is ugly and gets in the way.  But I have all my science “stuff” in there, and it comes in awfully handy.) I got a Ball jar with a lid out of the bin, and had a student give me a sticky note.  I wrote “CREAM” on the note and stuck it to the top of my clipboard.  My clipboard usually makes it home with me, unless I lose it, and I usually glance at it and remember to bring whatever it is that I need to school the next day.  I did.

We poured the cream into the jar and I let the 5th and 6th graders take turns shaking it as we went over the science lesson the next day.  We would stop and check it every five minutes.  After about twenty minutes, we had butter.  I had another student bring me a sticky note.  This time I wrote “CRACKERS” on it.  This note did make it to my clipboard, but not home.  So, we just left our jar of butter in the fridge, and the next day, after I remembered, we smeared our very own “homemade” butter on crackers and ate it.  I did get a little concerned when one of the students asked if the jar we had used was the same one that my son had used when he brought in acorns which were full of worms.  I assured them that it wasn’t -- I didn’t think it was anyway.  Surely not?  

So, it was very yummy, and they all got the “solid-liquid-gas” concept right on the test.  Doing activities and experiments is better than just reading about them.

Snakes on the Ceiling

        

     Ok, I admit it, I love to hang things from the ceiling.  But I have good, educational reasons, you see.  The fruit is part of our “Fruit of the Spirit” theme.  The fiesta flowers just got left up after the Mexico part of the honor roll party, and then we added the snakes.

 

We were studying the weather patterns in science and how warm air rises.  To demonstrate this, I had them all draw and then cut out snakes from construction paper.  Then we added a string to the head.  Next I brought in a space heater.  Each student got to hold his or her snake over the space heater and watch how the warm air rising made their snake spin around.  Then I got a ladder and we hung them from the ceiling.  

I liked all the decorations, so I just left them up there.   A mentally stimulating environment is way better than a stale, plain, boring one any day.

Quill Pens and Blueberries

 

         While learning about Colonial America, we read a story on the printing of the Martyr’s Mirror at the Ephrata Cloister.  In the midst of printing the huge book, they ran out of ink.  After experimenting with all sorts of concoctions, they ended up using a mixture of poke berries, charcoal, flaxseed oil, and a few other strange ingredients.  It worked, and a few copies of those books are still around and the print can still be easily read. 

           As the curriculum suggested, we decided to make our own ink and use quills for pens.  (We use Living History Threads from Christian Learning Resources and it is wonderful!)

 

I brought in smashed blueberries in a zip-lock baggie and strong tea with corn starch in another container.  (Both “recipes” are in the curriculum.)  The students really enjoyed it.  A few took their pens home and experimented some more, and many of them taped their quills onto the ends of their real pens.  Learning about history is fun; experiencing it is even better.

#teachinghistory

Goin' Batty

      We haven’t had a student bring in a bat in about three years, but this week, we got another bat.  Evidently, it was sleeping near a garage door, and when the garage door was opened, the bat fell to the ground.  The students and their dad ran and got it, then put it in a box.  When it arrived at school, we all thought it might be dead.

     We all looked at it during morning “science” time.  They really are darling, cute little things, except for those gross claws on the ends of their elbow-things.  The German word for them is “fledermaus”, which means “flying mouse”.   It was still alive, so we put it in a safer container with a lid and lots of holes on the top, and put him, or her, in a dark place to recuperate.

      That evening we remembered that that we’d forgotten poor Mr. Bat at school.  Being compassionate, our family all piled in the van and drove back to get him.  He was doing very well.   He liked the little drink of water we gave him and even looked a little mad.  He was ready to get out of there.  We tried to get a good picture of him (which we didn’t, obviously), and then let him go.  It was amazing how quickly his sonar worked.  As soon as the lid was off, he took off into the dark night.  

Good-bye Mr. Bat.  

Enjoy Rosebud.  

Stay away from garage doors.  

Texas History Projects

         Every other year I teach Texas History to our 7th and 8th graders.  At the end of the year I have them complete a project which portrays some aspect of Texas History we’ve studied this year.   The students did a fantastic job.

This year’s projects included

 the  Alamo made with real rocks, pillars, and wooden doors,

a sod house and ranch,

         




an Indian scene with real leather teepees,
















a log cabin and ranch, 

and a folder with paintings of all six of the flags which have flown over Texas.   

Incas and Quippas

        We’ve been studying ancient civilizations in our social studies class, and I just couldn't  help but want to make these quippas after we’d read about them while studying the Incas.  The Incan empire covered thousands of miles, much of it down the western coast of South America.  They didn’t have a system of writing, but they did have sticks and ropes.  They would use different colored strings and a system of knots to communicate.  I had a wonderful teacher back in elementary school -- I wish I could remember her name and thank her! -- and I wanted my students to enjoy making these as I had when I was about their age.  It felt, just for a tiny second, like I was an Inca too.  Experiencing a bit of history is a fabulous thing.  

 

Cold War Bomb Drill and Sardines, Anyone?

I try to make my classes interesting, appealing, and memorable.    Last week this included having the students reenact my 1960s-era elementary school Cold War bomb attack practices, where we students had to crouch up against the walls with our hands clasped together protecting the backs of our necks, while the teachers ran up and down the halls telling at us to get down and stay down.  Surely this would help my Texas History students remember that San Antonio has lots of military bases, right?  Or maybe they just decided that whatever happened to me back in San Antonio in first and second grade had scarred me for life.

Anyway, after our bomb scare reenactment, we ate sardines.  You see, we had read in our health book that sardines are great for your teeth and bones.  None of the students had tried sardines before, so I decided to broaden their culinary repertoire, and help them have stronger teeth at the same time.  They all had great attitudes and ate them, and we even had to share them with the high schoolers who couldn’t resist coming over to see what we were doing.

Students with Books on Their Heads

I have discovered that many students forget much of what they read.  If we discuss it in class there is a greater probability of them remembering it, but if we actually DO something I have found that they have a much better chance of actually remembering it.  And, if we add in a little humor, I could almost add an “always” to that “remember”.  

So it was one day that we were studying posture in our junior

high health class.  

Step 1.  Read.

We read about how good posture helps our digestion and alertness.  Next we read about how walking with a book on our head helps us be more aware of our posture.  

Step 2.  Relate what you just read to something.

Next I told them a story about when my mother made me go to a “charm class” where they made us do this.  I told them how I did not like that silly class either.  

Step 3.  Show them something to help them remember.

I figured if I demonstrated this for them that they would have a greater chance of remembering it.  They giggled as I walked around, not losing the book from off of my head.  

Step 4.  Have them to do something themselves to help them remember.

Next I had them slump over so that their stomachs were all squished.  We discussed how it was harder to breathe and digest that way.

It was then time for our Biblical Ethics class which we hold on the couches and have good discussions and sometimes friendly debates.  I suggested that they put a book on their heads as they walked over to the couches. 

Maybe it was because I had already done it and they wanted to try it themselves.  Maybe it was because I had already made myself look a little silly so it wasn’t as intimidating for them to try it themselves.  Maybe it was because we have a pretty safe environment at our school and they weren’t too self conscious, or maybe they all just have great attitudes.  Whatever the reasons, they did it.  They also all passed their health tests with flying colors.  Not that passing tests is all that important, but learning is.  And I think they did all learn about good posture and how it is good for our bodies. 

Indians, Tanning, and Pimples

 I am really having a fun time teaching our 7th and 8th graders health and Texas History.  The other day we had an unusual time.

We were studying post-Civil War Texas when most of the Indians had been forced onto reservations.  I wanted to show the students a map of Oklahoma so that they could see where some of the closest reservations were located.  Because I only had a Texas map in the classroom, I had my son run out to the car to get our atlas.  He brought me the Texas Atlas.  I looked through it for awhile before I realized that Oklahoma wasn’t in the Texas Atlas.  (It was late in the day.)  I found another book with good pictures and colored dots of all the reservations all over America.

Then we read about how the American settlers killed off most of the buffalo once they had learned how to tan the hides.  I had one of my sheep hides hanging over the back of my chair at my desk, and I had one of the students run over and grab it.  We all touched the skin on the back of the fleece, and I explained how I had tanned it myself.

Next it was time for science.  We happened to be studying the epidermis, and all the lovely things found in the top layer of our skin, like hair, oil, sweat, and dead skin cells.  We were learning how oil clogs pores and causes acne.  I am not afraid to be candid about these topics, but a little humor does help to lighten the mood.  So I brought in a picture of my husband, the school principal, when he was in eighth grade, with acne.  It is something we all deal with, and something that none of us should feel self-conscious about too much.  A picture and a little humor go along way.

Chopsticks and an Octopus Head

About fifteen years ago my husband and I traveled to China and spent two weeks there when we adopted one of our daughters.  I would have gone hungry quite often if I hadn’t learned to use chopsticks.  There were no forks in China, except for one an American brought along with her and would not part with.  I was hungry, the food was good, and so I learned pretty quickly.

After reading missionary stories about Hudson Taylor and Gladys Aylward, we were motivated for our students to learn also.  

We bought a pair of chopsticks for each student and sat in a big circle at lunch one day.  We gave each of them a bowl of popcorn and a lesson on how to use chopsticks.  Then a week later we had the “test” -- eating a bowl of popcorn in five minutes.  They had plenty of time, and they’d been practicing with their chopsticks, so of course they all made it.  

Their reward was a trip to a Chinese buffet, and they were encouraged to use their chopsticks, of course.  

We again paired them up with their buddies and this really helped the younger ones go through the buffet line, especially when the taller older ones could read the signs that said, “Octopus”.  One adventurous student ate the head and kept the legs to bring to school for morning "science".